


Looks Can Be Deceiving

by HylianDerp



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Chubby Prompto Argentum, Gen, Gladio's not a bad guy he just has assumptions, Pre-Canon, Prompto is surprisingly strong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianDerp/pseuds/HylianDerp
Summary: Prompto's planning to join the Crownsguard, so Gladio offers to assess his abilities. Considering Prompto's size, Gladio doesn't have high hopes...
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Prompto Argentum
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Looks Can Be Deceiving

The first time that Gladio brought Prompto to the Crownsguard training facilities, he expected for Prompto to give up and collapse within 20 minutes. Stereotypes exist for a reason, right? He figured that fatness came from laziness, and that the extra effort of carrying around as much weight as Prompto did would have him exhausted far sooner than himself or Ignis. It was time to find out whether Prompto's talks of being an avid runner were just that.

"I like to warm up with some light cardio. Would you rather jog the track or hop on a treadmill?" The young Shield asked. He figured that running was a good pace to start; either he'd find out whether the prince's friend was full of hot air, or he'd get a baseline assessment of his athletic abilities.

"Can we go with the track? I'm used to running in my neighborhood. Treadmills sound so monotonous in comparison," Prompto replied. Gladio was pleased to see that he was already doing some good dynamic stretching, a sign that he wouldn't immediately hurt himself. Nobody wants to pull a calf muscle if they can help it. 

"Sounds good, Chocobutt," Gladio replied, cocky as always. He didn't want to reveal that he was even mildly impressed; overconfidence never boded well for anyone, no matter their skill. The Shield led Prompto out to the track shared by both the Kingsglaive and the Crownsguard.

Gladio pulled a stopwatch from the pocket of his sweatpants. "Alright, blondie, let's see how long it takes you to run a mile. That's four laps on this track." He expected 10, maybe 11 minutes from Prompto, compared to his own 8 and change. He started a countdown.

"In three, two, one, Go!" The boys set off. Prompto seemed to be moving slightly faster than Gladio at first. Huh. Probably over-excited, Gladio thought; he'll wear himself out too fast and drag on the second half. But as the first lap ended, then the second, that never seemed to happen. Was Prompto...faster? But how? He was nearly a foot shorter and fifty pounds heavier. Shouldn't he be impeded by that alone? Gladio realized that, at this rate, Prompto was set to finish nearly a lap ahead of him!

As Prompto approached the final leg of his last lap, Gladio grabbed his stopwatch, in utter disbelief. Prompto was about to beat his personal best time by nearly two minutes! The goofy fat kid that Noctis dragged home managed a 6 minute mile, and looked like he had barely broken a sweat!

After crossing the finish line, Prompto slowed to something more akin to a power-walk, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"Woo! That was fun! Now it's time to do some real work, right?" Gladio was dumbfounded. It's literally his job to be in peak physical fitness, and he wants to take a water break now. What has this kid been eating? Maybe he needs some of it…

"Yeah, give me a minute," Gladio gasped, coming over the finish line at what (he previously thought was) a perfectly respectable 8 and a half minutes. He beelined to where he had tossed his duffel earlier, immediately rummaging through it for his water bottle. Prompto looked over at him, laughing at his sweaty visage.

"What's the matter? You dying over one measly mile? I run half-marathons pretty regularly, in way worse heat than this." Gladio groaned at the mere idea of running that much. He'd take powerlifting over that crap any day. Speaking of which…

"C'mon, Chocobo, let's head to the weight room. I want to see if you've got what it takes to even consider joining the Crownsguard, or if you're just a one-trick pony." And with that, he headed back inside, Prompto trotting (ha! He should tell Iggy that one) behind. There's no way Prompto could outperform him in weightlifting, that was his specialty!

The pair filed into the room, Prompto looking warily at the equipment.

"I'm not sure how to use this stuff. I haven't really gotten a chance to use weightlifting equipment at a real gym…" Gladio felt a wave of glee at the knowledge that he had the upper hand, immediately followed by guilt. It wasn't Prompto's fault that he grew up without the money for a gym membership or free access to a fully-equipped one like this.

"Don't worry, Chocobutt, I'll be here to help." Gladio happily led him through a full circuit, testing his maximum weight, then what weight was the right challenge for multiple reps. After the morning he'd had, Gladio wasn't particularly surprised that Prompto consistently outperformed Noctis; what was surprising was how often Prom's max weight matched his own. This boy had some strong thighs on him, and apparently abs didn't need to be visible to be powerful, either.

Unfortunately for Prompto, spending most of his time running led to some disappointingly weak arms; his shoulders were sturdy enough, but he couldn't lift nearly as much using his forearms as he could other muscles. That will certainly limit his weapon use, Gladio thought. Greatswords were definitely out. Daggers and pistols, though… now those sounded promising. Sounds like he'll need to ask Ignis and one of the firearms specialists (Dustin, maybe?) to help assess Prompto's strengths in combat. In the meantime, though…

It looks like Gladio has some preconceptions to reevaluate.


End file.
